All the unmarried girls had left—uh, the maids didn't count.
Only then did Zhang tell Lady Jia Shi and Lady Wang about Jia Zhen's messing around with her two younger sisters.
When Lady Wang heard that Jia Zhen had handed a woman he'd grown tired of over to a nephew on his wife's side, she angrily twisted the Buddhist beads in her hand.
"Liu Xianglian went too easy on him," Lady Wang said. "Zhen should have learned a much harsher lesson."
Lady Jia Shi nodded. "It's a pity his father has passed away. There's no one left who can keep him in line."
Although Jia Zheng and Jia She were Jia Zhen's elders, they couldn't control him.
Jia Zhen was the head of Ningguo Mansion, not Rongguo Mansion, and he simply wouldn't submit to the Rongguo Mansion elders.
Lady Jia Shi was starting to regret helping Jia Zhen plot to support Commandery Prince Yizhong.
Could someone with a personality like Jia Zhen's really accomplish anything?
After what had happened with You Sanjie, Mother Liu felt they needed to arrange Liu Xianglian's marriage as soon as possible, before some other improper woman set her sights on him.
But Liu Xianglian had declared that he would only marry a peerless beauty. If she wasn't pretty, he wouldn't have her.
Mother Liu was at a loss. How could there be so many peerless beauties in the world?
Liu Jiaying said, "Several of the young ladies from Rongguo Mansion are peerless beauties."
Mother Liu knew, of course, that the Jia girls were lovely.
But Jia Yuanchun was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Liu Family. The Jia Family couldn't marry another daughter into the Liu Family.
Liu Jiaying said, "I know a girl who's a peerless beauty and very talented, too—she's as good as Aunt Lin."
Mother Liu was intrigued.
She had met Lin Daiyu and knew how beautiful and talented she was.
None of the proper Jia daughters could compare with Lin Daiyu. Only Xue Baochai of the Xue Family could match her.
But Miss Xue had already entered the palace.
Jia Yuanchun asked her daughter, "What beauty have you met now, you little imp?"
Liu Jiaying called out, "She really is a beauty! You've met her, Mother."
Jia Yuanchun was puzzled. "I have?"
Liu Jiaying said, "Yes! She's the Xue Family's second young lady, Xue Baoqin! Old Madam likes Second Miss Xue so much that she even had Grandmother take her in as a goddaughter."
Jia Yuanchun understood. "Baoqin is indeed lovely, and she's talented and remarkably well-informed, too."
Mother Liu was tempted.
If the Xue Family's second young lady really was as wonderful as Jia Yuanchun said, she could make a good wife for her younger son.
They didn't mind that Miss Xue came from a merchant family.
All that mattered was that the girl herself had a good temperament and proper upbringing.
Besides, a merchant's daughter would bring a generous dowry.
Her younger son would receive only three-tenths of the family property when they divided it. It would be best for him to marry a wife with a substantial dowry.
Mother Liu was about to suggest sending a matchmaker to the Xue Family to propose when Jia Yuanchun spoke up. "But Sister Baoqin is already engaged."
Mother Liu was very disappointed.
Liu Jiaying said, "But I heard the family she's engaged to has no intention of honoring the engagement."
Jia Yuanchun asked, "Did Jiqiu tell you that again?"
"No," Liu Jiaying replied. "I heard it from some passersby when I went out to buy candied hawthorn. They seemed to be servants from Hanlin Mei's household. Oh, Hanlin Mei is the head of the family that's engaged to the Xue Family."
Jia Yuanchun frowned. "The Mei Family wants to break off the engagement? Why haven't the Xue Family mentioned it?"
"Maybe the Xue Family doesn't know either."
Mother Liu asked, "The groom's family wants to break off the engagement but won't tell the bride's family? Are they trying to string them along until they get tired of waiting and break it off themselves?"
Liu Jiaying gave Mother Liu a thumbs-up. "Grandmother, you guessed it!"
Jia Yuanchun thought for a moment, then had Baoqin call Jiqiu over and instructed her to look into the Hanlin Mei household.
Baoqin was her sworn younger sister, after all. She couldn't let anyone bully her.
Two days later, Jiqiu told the women of the Liu Family what she had learned.
"The Mei Family really is planning to stall until the Xue Family calls off the engagement. They've already packed their things and are preparing to leave the capital. Master Mei has secured an appointment as an official in the provinces."
"The engagement between the Mei and Xue families was arranged before Master Mei passed the jinshi examination. Back then, Master Xue rescued Master Mei when he was down on his luck and gave him money to travel to the capital and sit for the exams. Grateful for the Xue Family's lifesaving kindness, Master Mei arranged for his son to marry the Xue Family's second young lady."
"The one most opposed to the match is Madam Mei. She thinks her family is an official family, while Second Miss Xue is merely a merchant's daughter and unworthy of her son. So she came up with this plan to keep her waiting. A young woman's best years can't be wasted, but it doesn't matter much if a man marries a few years later."
"Master Mei simply didn't object to the plan."
"Hah." Jia Yuanchun gave a cold laugh. "Not objecting means agreeing. What a bunch of ungrateful wretches."
Mother Liu looked down on the Mei Family, too.
They were the sort who'd become whores and then put up a memorial arch for their virtue.
They'd prospered and then treated their benefactor's daughter this way. They were nothing but a pack of ungrateful wolves!
Jiqiu went on to describe just how despicable the Mei Family was. "Young Master Mei already has a son born to a concubine. The boy's mother is Madam Mei's niece. Madam Mei arranged for her niece to become her son's second wife. But aside from the Mei Family and Madam Mei's relatives, no one knows about it. Madam Mei still hopes to find her son a daughter-in-law from a noble family who can help advance Master Mei and Young Master Mei."
Mother Liu and Jia Yuanchun were disgusted.
Mother Liu said, "No wonder Madam Mei isn't in a hurry for her son to marry. She already has a grandson to hold."
Jia Yuanchun said in disgust, "And she hopes to marry her son to a daughter-in-law from a noble family? Dream on. Why would a family of good standing want to become relatives with the Mei Family? Daughters marry up. They don't marry down."
Liu Jiaying urged them, "Let's tell the Xue Family what the Meis are planning, so they can break off the engagement right away and then arrange Second Aunt Xue's marriage to Second Uncle."
Jia Yuanchun pressed down on her daughter's little head. "Don't be mischievous."
Liu Jiaying scrunched up her nose. "I'm not being mischievous. If we don't hurry and arrange for Second Uncle to marry Second Aunt Xue, are we just going to watch while other women set their sights on him?"
Mother Liu and Jia Yuanchun exchanged a glance.
Jia Yuanchun said, "We adults will handle this. You're just a little girl, so don't meddle."
"How can you do that? I gave you the information. You can't use me and then throw me away!" Liu Jiaying cried indignantly.
Jia Yuanchun patted her head. "You've learned your idioms well. Keep it up."
Liu Jiaying: "..."
That evening, Jia Yuanchun told Liu Zhong about Xue Baoqin and the Mei Family, along with what she and Mother Liu were planning.
Liu Zhong knew at once that this must have been thanks to his transmigrated daughter.
Still, the arrangement sounded good. Xue Baoqin was beautiful and talented, a perfect match for his younger brother, who liked beautiful women.
Liu Zhong said, "I'll bring this up with your eldest brother first and have him warn the Xue Family."
Jia Yuanchun sighed. "The saying goes, 'The righteous are often butchers, while the faithless are usually scholars.' I didn't believe it before, but first there was Jia Yucun, and now there's Hanlin Mei. They're both ungrateful wretches. I have no choice but to believe it now."
Before you continue